ETSU earns first win thanks in part to 23-0 first half run, Bogard's 22 points

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 30, 2012) – With the help of a 23-0 first half run, and a career-high 22 points from sophomore Brianna Bogard (Georgetown, Texas), the ETSU women’s basketball team earned its first win of the season in a big way by downing Memphis, 83-73, on Friday night at the MSHA Athletic Center.

ETSU (1-2) found itself down 9-2 at the 17:04 mark of the first half, but went on to score the game's next 23 points over an 8:12 span to take a 25-9 lead. Nine of those 23 points came from Bogard, who was a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc during the run. Bogard went on to finish the night 4-of-6 from downtown and 6-of-8 from the free throw line.

The Lady Bucs held onto that lead the rest of the half, finding themselves ahead, 40-28, at the half. The lead remained intact through the second stanza, with ETSU responding with a basket on two separate occasions when Memphis pulled to within 10. The first was a jumper from Maria Bond (Macon, Ga.) at the 14:18 mark, followed by one of Shawn Randall’s (Orlando, Fla.) three makes from three-point range less than a minute later. ETSU held its double-digit lead until just 20 seconds remained, when the Tigers brought the gap to nine but had no time for a comeback.

“I feel like our players came out with a lot of energy and emotion after falling down 9-2,” ETSU head coach Karen Kemp said. “This team played with a lot of heart and passion tonight. If we come out and play like that more often, we can win a lot of ball games.”

On the glass, junior Destiny Mitchell (Bluffton, Ga.) led all players with 16 rebounds to go along with 14 points – her third consecutive double-figure scoring night and 22nd career double-double. Mitchell filled up the rest of the stat sheet as well, dishing out two assists, rejecting one shot and coming up with two steals. Randalldid the same, finishing the night with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-3 from three-point range, while coming up with five boards, three assists, two blocks and one steal.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Lady Bucs had outrebounded Memphis (3-3), 53-43, to earn their first 50-plus rebound game since grabbing 60 against Lipscomb in February of last year. ETSU was limited to just 40.3 percent (16-42) from the field, but shot 66.7 percent (8-12) from beyond the arc to compensate.

Meanwhile, Memphis was just 2-of-16 from long range (12.5 percent), and 28-of-74 (37.8 percent) from the floor on the night. The majority of the Tigers’ points came from Nicole Dickson – a 2009 graduate of Greeneville High School – who had a big homecoming with 30 points (10-25 FG), 6 rebounds and four steals.

“This was a big win for us, not just as a team, but for the university as a whole,” Kemp added on knocking off Memphis. “To beat a big-name school like Memphis is exciting. That’s why we like to get those teams to come in. We feel pretty good when we get anybody here on our home court.”

The Lady Bucs return to action on Sunday, facing off with Morehead State on the road at 2 p.m.

ETSU Notes

- ETSU earns a second consecutive win over Memphis when playing in Johnson City. The last Lady Bucs home game against the Tigers came in the 1981-82 season, which ETSU won, 73-72.

- ETSU earns its first win of the season, and avoids what would have been back-to-back 0-3 starts for the first time in program history.

- Brianna Bogard scored a career-high 22 points, edging her career marks in three-point field goals made by shooting 4-of-6, and field goals made by shooting 6-of-10 overall.